Environmental management in Arctic oil and gas operations: Good practice guide

International Association of Oil & Gas Producers

OGP Report No 449:

Executive Summary
In addition to setting out the business context for oil and exploration and development in the Arctic, the report has chapters covering people and governance, the physical and biological environment and specific environmental sensitivities to development. Also discussed are the interfaces between upstream activities and the environment both natural and man-made at every phase of upstream lifecycle. Other chapters focus on risk management and the involvement of stakeholders and useful mitigation actions onshore and off. The concluding chapters provide references and other resources and appendices summarising the potential impacts of E&P operations and environmental protection measures. The new guideline is indicative of the industrys commitment to improving environmental and social performance wherever exploration and production take place. This involves working closely with institutions and communities to ensure a common understanding of community needs and industry objectives. This new OGP guideline complements the Arctic offshore oil and gas guidelines of the Arctic Council (2009). Copies of the new OGP report are freely available for downloading from: http://www.ogp.org.uk/publications/

The oil and gas industry has operated in the Arctic for almost a century. Recent proposals and plans for offshore exploration have focused new attention on prospective upstream Arctic operations. Such activity could unlock a significant proportion of the worlds remaining undiscovered hydrocarbon reserves; therefore, it is timely to produce a new report on environmental management in a region rightly regarded as sensitive but mistakenly perceived as untouched.
This new good practice guide consolidates and updates two previous documents covering onshore activities (1993) and offshore (2002). Prepared by experts from some of the leading companies with Arctic interests, the new guideline outlines the challenges faced and describe the legislative and governance regimes that currently prevail in the region. The good practices highlighted in the report run the gamut from the earliest pre-bid risk assessments studies to decommissioning and restoration; taking in the essential phases of exploration and appraisal, and development and operations. The geographic parameters covered include the 30 million square kilometres of the Arctic itself onshore and offshore as well as the sub-Arctic areas immediately south of the Arctic Circle.

www.ogp.org.uk